BROOKWOOD CEMETERY

He was an American-born musician, bandleader and composer who made his career primarily in Britain. In his late teens he travelled to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1924 he returned to London with the Boston Orchestra for an engagement at the Savoy Hotel. He liked Britain so much that he settled there and later became the co-leader (with Howie Jacobs) of the Savoy Hotel Orpheans and the bandleader of the New MayFair Orchestra, which recorded for the Gramophone Company on the HMV label.

Gibbons made occasional return trips to the United States but settled permanently in England, though he did spend a couple of years (1930-31) in Hollywood, where he worked as a staff composer for MGM films. He took exclusive leadership of the Savoy Hotel Orpheans, which recorded hundreds of popular songs between 1932 and his death in London at the early age of 51.

As a composer, Gibbons' most popular songs included "A Garden in the Rain" (1928) and "On The Air" (1932). The latter became his signature tune. He recorded many popular tunes of the danceband era, many of which are still available.

He is buried near to the chapel in plot 124.